Adapting to a split keyboard

Getting a “proper” keyboard

I bought a Scylla keyboard from Bastard keyboards.

I was initially looking at Kinesis Advantage, but due to pricing and shipping, I decided to go with the Scylla, and I’m happy with my choice.

Here are my thoughts after two weeks of using the Scylla.

Why a split keyboard

My main motivator is to reduce wrist strain and improve typing comfort. Secondary motivator is, of course, the cool factor.

Keyboard impressions

I included the accessory tent when ordering. I haven’t had a need to try without the tent. The keyboard feels great with it. I’m able to relax my hands on my arm rests, and the keyboard tilt is pretty much perfect for me.

I chose a keyboard with more buttons, so the change wouldn’t be too drastic. Turns out, I don’t need or want to use the topmost layer because it requires me to reach.

The keyboard does not weigh much, but it feels solid and durable. It has a tendency to drift a bit, especially when gaming. I’m thinking about either buying a large enough mousepad to fit both sides or adding some rubber feet.

Initial feelings

I started with the default bindings, but quickly realized that it wasn’t good for me. I had problems accessing the top buttons, major problems with my navigation, and I wanted to use FI layout for nordic characters.

It became clear that the idea to create my own layout was pretty much mandatory. Configuration being tied to the keyboard is awesome, I can update the config anywhere, and it’ll just work.

It was surprisingly easy to adjust to writing, I’m almost back to speed my max on Monkeytype after two weeks.

Using Vim felt annoying at first, as if I lost access to my superpowers. This was mostly the result of me not being diligent enough with my finger placement before. Using Scylla basically forces me to have my fingers in the correct place by default.

Keycaps matter

I hadn’t realized that Scylla does not come with keycaps by default, but I think this was a blessing in disguise. I had an old keyboard laying around that had four special caps with a different feel than the normal keys.

After playing around for a few days, I decided to assign those keys to my pinkies and the middle thumb keys, so I could more easily find the correct resting spot.

Layers

Trying to keep things simple. Base keyboard, navigation/number layer, one dedicated to symbols, and a bonus layer.

I ended up using a hold key for navigation/number layer, a one-shot layer for symbols, and a toggle for the bonus layer.

The bonus layer contains mouse wheel movement, back and forward navigation.

Rethinking movement

On my navigation/number layer, I have the numbers on the right side (similar to numpad), and the arrows on the left (esdf).

This allows me to keep jumping around in vim with my right hand pressing numbers, while my left hand is well accustomed to the movement, strongly matching wasd.

The best thing about this is that I don’t need to remap movement keys. For example, previously I’ve had specific mappings for IntelliJ, which remaps list movement to j/k, and sometimes this isn’t even possible.

nvim everywhere (on Windows)

I use Windows at work and do quite a lot of writing in the browser. To have Vim like editing I came up with a solution which lets me use my own nvim instance instead of having to rely on emulation or extensions.

When focused on an input field, I first open a floating terminal window with nvim, and when I’m done, I can return and paste the contents to the field with a single button press. For this I created a keyboard macro through Via:

  1. Esc - Return to normal mode
  2. Space + shift 5 - Select the whole buffer (custom nvim bind)
  3. Space + y - Copy selection to clipboard (custom nvim bind)
  4. Alt + Tab - Return focus to the previous window
  5. For safety, I left a 150 ms delay here
  6. Ctrl + v - Paste
{KC_ESC} {+KC_LSFT}5{-KC_LSFT} y{KC_LALT,KC_TAB}{150}{+KC_LCTL}v{-KC_LCTL}

Layout visualizer

Via only supports US layout and I wanted an easy way to generate an image of my layout. At first I just manually drew it using draw.io, but I wanted a better way as I was constantly adjusting something.

Junie and I came up with Scylla Layout Visualizer. It has my layout filled in by default if you want to see how it works or how my layout looks.

Conclusion

From my perspective, getting a split keyboard has absolutely been worth it, and getting a remappable keyboard maybe even more so. I have a whole new rabbit hole to delve into with macros and layout options.

It hasn’t been long enough to say that I won’t have any wrist issues, but I can say that the hand position does feel natural. No need to reach for any keys and no ungodly button combinations ever again.